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THE SECOND COMING OF THE MUSTANG
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Grey Advertising, the agency charged with making the arrival of the Mustang II the greatest automotive event since . . . well, the arrival of the first Mustang, is pushing not merely a car but a vision of "jewel-like quality," "incredible interior," "glassy-smooth four-speed transmission," "jewel-like decor and finish everywhere," "a new level of luxury," and "jewel-like craftsmanship." This is no ordinary car; it's "a whole new kind of car ... a little jewel of a car" at the remarkably low price of $2895.
Naturally, before you race out to buy one of these sporty gems, we suggest you find out what the Mustang II is really like by reading the test report on page 323. We also suggest you find out what the Mustang you'd like really costs.
If you have already read our evaluation of the Mustang II, several things should be clear: First, it is something to be bought (and repaired) at an automobile dealer, not a jeweler; second, the Mustang II may or may not be, as the ads claim, "a remarkable value," but the versions Ford pushes usually cost a lot more than $2895; and, third, the gap between advertised appearance and the nuts and bolts of automotive reality is enough to warrant a closer look at how cars can successfully be peddled as gems.
THE FIRST COMING
The original Mustang's 1964 launching was a classic case of the one-two punch of advertising-public relations landing squarely on the consumer's chin, a marketing knockout that delivered millions of dollars to Ford. Since the ad campaign for the Mustang II uses many of the same tactics, let's take a look at the original scenario.
First, Ford conducted extensive market research to determine who would be buying new cars. They found that the post-World War II baby boom was depositing unprecedented numbers of young, affluent people in the market, and Ford set out to design an image to sell them.
Second, a car had to be designed to fit that image, or at least appear to. Many safety features, now Federally required, were originally planned for the Mustang but were scrapped because they either added to the car's cost or got in the way of style. Lee Iacocca, now Ford's president but then in charge of the Mustang's development, made the point clearly: "People would want this car because it offers them status at low cost. . . ."
To pull this off, the Ford designers had to pick their way through a thicket of contradictions-performance versus economy, luxury versus price, practicality versus sportiness, family carrying capability versus small size, engineering versus style. Ford's answer, graphically illustrated by Mustang advertising from 1964 to the present, was to put out a relatively inexpensive basic car but promote the customer's ability to tailor it to his own taste through a bevy of price-boosting options.
Third, a brilliant public-relations campaign sold the public on the car well before it was in the showrooms. Time and Newsweek, for example, ran simultaneous cover stories devoted to the new Mustang. These efforts paid off handsomely. Thousands of people ordered Mustangs without having seen one. During the 48 hours following the Mustang's first public showing amid much hoopla at the New York World's Fair, 25,584 people bought one, and almost 4.4 million visited Ford dealers to look at what was quite an ordinary car, except for its racy styling.
Fourth, when the Mustangs hit the showrooms in April of 1964, advertising flooded the presses and the airwaves: "Presenting the unexpected . . . New Ford Mustang." This slogan was ironic, since the advance publicity had been so heavy that the "unexpected" Mustang was called by Car and Driver "the worst kept secret in Detroit's history."
The initial ads prominently featured the $2368 price, which Motor Trend contends is "the most famous base price of all time." But within a few months the low price disappeared as the ads increasingly stressed the custom-tailoring you could do: "Mustang was designed to be designed by you." All you had to do was "choose from an unusually long list of reasonably priced options."
THE SECOND COMING
Ten years later, the Mustang II has been given the same, treatment. After a few months of ads featuring the base price, now $2895, the price reference has been dropped, except in a few ads comparing the base prices of a number of Ford models. In addition, the do-it-yourself theme is back -you can "build your own personal luxury car" by selecting some of the many exciting options."
Promoting options was apparently an effective strategy for the auto makers. Even though Americans are buying smaller cars, Detroit is selling more options for them than ever, with high-profit results. A Ford salesman sums up the effectiveness of Mustang-type advertising: "People ask for a small car and then they ask for power this, power that, power everything. Plus they want it for $2000."
The fact that people still expected to get this optionloaded car for the widely advertised base price reveals, in CU's view, an unfortunate similarity between the Mustang ads and the typical "bait and switch" ads generally associated with disreputable merchandisers. The standard bait-and-switch game starts with an advertisement for a product, say a bedroom furniture ensemble, at an extremely low price, often accompanied by a picture of more expensive merchandise. This is the bait. When the bait lures the consumer into the store, the salesman points out that the advertised goods are unsightly, of poor quality, or otherwise undesirable or unavailable and suggests the purchase of "much better" merchandise at a higher price. This is the switch.
Bait-and-switch advertising, when it can be shown that the seller clearly misrepresented the product or had no intention of selling the advertised product at the advertised price, is a violation of Federal law. Many states and municipalities also prohibit it, often with criminal penalties.
In the Mustang ads the lure is the low sticker price coupled with the overall emphasis on the attractions of options and high-priced models. The 1964 ads indicated that the $2368 price was "f.o.b. Detroit . . . for a completely equipped [italics ours] standard Mustang Hardtop." An asterisk directs the reader's attention to the following: "Suggested retail price. Destination charges from Detroit, options, state and local taxes and fees, if any, are extra. White sidewall tires [pictured in the ad] are $33.90 extra."
The advertising for the Mustang II has become more sophisticated. A magazine advertisement that ran in October of last year (shown above) prominently pictures a glowing white Ghia model, which lists for $429 more than the basic hardtop. At the bottom, in a box, appears "$2895" in large bold type, preceded by a very small photo of the two-door hardtop-about the size of the Ghia's hood-and, in fine print, the following: "Sticker price for base two-door hard-top, excluding dealer prep, destination charges, title and taxes. Car shown is equipped with optional white sidewall tires ($29), pin striping ($13), rocker panel molding ($13), vinyl roof ($80)." Even if the hardtop, rather than the Ghia, is viewed as the bait, the fine print indicates that the switch is on to the tune of $135-and that's just exterior trim.
The initial Mustang II television spots also try to work a jewel-like facsimile of the old Mustang routine. One ad pictures the car's fanciest features, such as the Ghia emblem on the expensive Ghia model. The same ad also shows the Ghia car itself, the even more expensive Mach 1 model ($622 more than the hardtop), and the 2+2 model ($193 more than the hardtop) before discussing price and showing the hardtop model briefly at the end.
Of course, the only price mentioned is that of the hardtop -$2895-and there isn't even a hint that the fancier models featured in the ad are substantially more expensive. That's the bait. The switch may come when you visit a Ford dealer and find out (1) that the car you want, especially if it is a model other than the hardtop, is very expensive; (2) that the $2895 price is attainable only if you can buy at the factory (which, we are told, is not possible); (3) that the Mustangs in stock tend to be loaded with options, and to order a stripped-down car takes about six to eight weeks; (4) that "loaded" Mustangs are discounted but stripped ones are not. (When CU checked several local Ford dealers, the closest thing to a stripped Mustang we could find was a car with $150 worth of options. When we expressed interest in that car, the salesman looked at us with an expression usually reserved for a decomposed mouse. Other Mustangs that were in dealers' stocks had more than $1000 worth of options. A couple of dealers had put large "$2895" signs on the roof or windshield of their showroom models-even though those particular cars listed for more than $4000.)
Of course, if you made purchasing decisions solely on the basis of ads, you wouldn't be reading CONSUMER REPORTS. But even for enlightened folk, there's something mighty enticing about all those beautiful people climbing into those sexy cars which, one wrongly infers, can be bought for the remarkable price of $2895. Even the wary can be seduced-that's what advertising is all about.
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